Hey guys, went and picked up the HD4830 512MB card yesterday since I was in desperate need of a cheap but good gaming card for my 22" LCD. This card is NUTS! Plays GTA IV nearly maxed and smooth plus every other game I throw at it. The best part was the $130 after tax price tag AND the fact that it clocks itself down to 160Mhz core/250MHz memory when not in 3D. The fan actually shuts down when in 2D!!!!! Idles around 32C too!!!!

This is a must have card if you are on a budget. I am strongly considering Crossfire down the road with it since it handles my games that don't properly use Crossfire very well and will noy boost my performance in games that do use Crossfire.

Just wanted to share my experience for anyone looking for a cheap card.

PS: It overclocks very well too, maxes 700/1200 in CCC but then it does not turn down the clocks at idle so I just leave it running stock.

My 9800 GTX+ was $169..is also lightening fast on my 22 inch..
1. Downclocks (standard for all nVidia Cards)
The thing runs stock at 780Mhz Core...outrageous....point is for a budget board their are other options my friend

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Introducing me n my OCD to Watercooling, is like taking an Alcoholic to an "all you can drink" Beach Bar in Mexico

Red vs Green once again...its always ongoing, provided you found a Card that you like "right on"...
I have always purchased the "best" top end nVidia Cards and was merely stating how shocked I was at the performanceof my "cheap" 9800GTX+...that is all, glad you found a great Card...as for Red vs Green, it will always be ongoing.......to those who love Red, all I say is "hang in their and good luck with that"...just kidding, glad your Card runs great.

PS The 9 Series Cards and up have always been capable of Downclocking...the 8xxx Series did not. The downclocking works regardless of what "OC'ing" you apply, as well as Downclocking the Core / Memory / Shaders it also downclocks the Fan. As for heat, I have 2 280's thatidle at 39c and full load at 74c, don't think those temps are unreasonable at all.
My 9800 GTX+ idles at 38c and full loads at 66c 790 Core / 2.28 Ghz Memory, it was on sale at DC for $169 a few months ago. I didn't mention anything about a 9800GT, I agree those Cards are not "performance" at all.

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Introducing me n my OCD to Watercooling, is like taking an Alcoholic to an "all you can drink" Beach Bar in Mexico

I should have known that it would instantly be spun into a typical red VS green war. I purposely did NOT make any comparisons to AVOID this. My post was to state how much I love my new card and what it has to offer. There is NO Nvidia card that can downclock this far and actually run passive under 2D.

You want to turn this into a fanboy war? Look up the benchmarks. The HD4830 is right behind the much more expensive GTS250/9800GTX+. I mean within a few FPS. It is cheaper than the 9800GT and it easily beats it. It runs cooler as well. Add the final nail in the coffin that the HD4830 is easily $30 cheaper than anything close to it makes it the best card in the $150 pricerange and it does it by coming in $30-40 under that mark.

Stating core clock speeds is meaningless since each card does different things with different clocks. I'm not even sure how high this card will go since I merely used CCC to OC it just for giggles and I could max out the sliders.

PS The 9 Series Cards and up have always been capable of Downclocking...the 8xxx Series did not. The downclocking works regardless of what "OC'ing" you apply, as well as Downclocking the Core / Memory / Shaders it also downclocks the Fan.

Are you folding? I think all G92 and after GPUs have the auto downclocking.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but GTA stresses the CPU more than the GPU doesn't it? And the 4830 is basically a 4850 that's been downclocked and has just 640 shaders instead of the 4850's 800. The core is basically the same as the 4850.